Choosing the Right Power Supply

[smith-ee]

Good thread but it dosen't answer all my questions.

I have an Enermax Noisetaker 420w (+12v, 15/14A dual rails; +3.3, 32A; +5, 36A).

29A's on the 12 rail - you might think that is enough!(especially when the so called king of PSU's the Antec True 550w only offers 32A i beleive!)
But - I am having all sorts of problems oc'ing my new 939 rig and it is always the addition of extra drives / fans that cause things to change.

Here's my question - Are dual rails bad for overclocking as they limit the power to the CPU and Mobo. For example - maybe my mobo is drawing 18A's and my CPU only 8A's, which combined is 26A's and well within the PSU's limits but, from this example my MOBO is underpowered as the rail only extends to 15A's! (This might be a bad example as I'm no expert on power - but you get where I'm coming from - yes?)

Point is if I didn't have dual rails I would have enough power for my example - period - but with dual rails I would be underpowered - right?

So - Are dual 12v rails bad for large output systems as they are inflexible.

Another guy had the same problem with Enermax 480 and switched to Tagan 480, which has 28A on the 12v (less than his enermax combined rails) BUT he is now rock solid as there is no splitting of the rails).

Help someone please - also this will make this thread very comprehensive if it including a section on dual rails.

Cheers all.

 

[Thunder]

Good article

Only thing I worry about is that I can't see anything mention about the OCZ Powestream 520. I've ordered one of those, and beginning to wonder...have I bought a bad PSU? Please, say it's a good psu...anybody

 

[Apple renegade]

Impressive specs...
33amps on 12v
Idividually adjustable power rails
Shielded cables for VGA and HD

One of the best around so far. If the connectors are silver or gold coated I will be the best I have seen (of specs).

Congrats !

 

[Thunder]

Thx man, good to hear :smile:
Can't wait to get it in my system! Will report any advantages and disavantages soon.

Stay tuned....

 

[robig]

hey

i saw only one mentioning of the thermaltake psu and i think it the best option i can buy right now so can anyone tell me if its at least decent?

http://www.thermaltake.com/purepower/w00089.htm

10x

 

[robig]

o btw my system specs:

asus a7v600
athlon 2500+ @ ~1800mhz (but i may try to push it to ~2100)
1gb ddr400
160gb maxtor 7200
liteon dvd-rom
radeon 9800 pro 128mb (red board)
hercules digifire 7.1 (sound card)
winxp pro sp2

 

[Wonkanoby]

basically its an old design

40a 5v great,but new motherboards and cpu will never use it

as new cpu and vga cards run mostly of the 12v rail

18a 12v

well in a new 64 bit set up thats marginal

i would look else were

dont buy a psu for what you have now

buy for what you hope to have in 2 years time

 

[robig]

so, ok. what if instead of buying a new psu which is going to be expensive and i have no idea where to find something better then the one i asked about (except a much more expensive design) so instead of that i can use a diffrent psu (older) just for the vga card. could it do the trick until i manage to get a decent psu?

 

[zoom314]

Originally posted by robig
so, ok. what if instead of buying a new psu which is going to be expensive and i have no idea where to find something better then the one i asked about (except a much more expensive design) so instead of that i can use a diffrent psu (older) just for the vga card. could it do the trick until i manage to get a decent psu?

No that as far as I know wouldn't work, I'd look for an Enermax EG365AX as It has 26 Amps on the +12v rail. It's here on pricewatch.com for $77.00($71.00 + $6.00 FedEx) and that isn't really expensive I would think or You could get the 460w Enermax EG465P-VE for $80.00 with Free Shipping and 33 Amps on the +12v rail, It's what I have(the Whisper version).

 

[zoom314]

Originally posted by Thunder
Good article

Only thing I worry about is that I can't see anything mention about the OCZ Powestream 520. I've ordered one of those, and beginning to wonder...have I bought a bad PSU? Please, say it's a good psu...anybody

Yeah I've read those OCZ Powerstream power supplys sound real good, But I've never heard of OZC of course. :lol_anim:

 

[robig]

i have another idea. what if i do it in revers? i put the older psu (250w) just for my hd and i put the 12v rail on the 300w (not that much a difference) on the gfx card. it could get me enough juice to get the gfx card working right. i think. well im gonna try it and if it works then im gonna use this configuration till i can get my hands on a good psu.

 

[zoom314]

DFI Ultra Infinity A+ Motherboard
40Gb WD 7200rpm hdd
4-80mm fans Thermaltake
xp-m 2500 cpu @ 2.53Ghz
SP-97 w/92mm Vantec Tornado
MSI MX4000 (nVidia) agp card w/128Mb
Kingston Value ram 256Mb PC3200 Dimm
JPAC 500w psu +3.3vdc=28A;+5vdc=40A;+12vdc=18A

This combo should run on a 300w to a 400w psu(Depends on how good the psu is).

So You might try and remove the sound card run Your PC without It until You get a better psu, Like an Enermax EG465P-VE 460w psu(33A on the +12v rail), On pricewatch.com It goes for $80.00 shipped.

 

[robig]

so your saying not to try the 2 psu`s combo?

i dont have a prob with its price (80$ is ok) but i do have a problem with not having an international credit card to buy it with! and i didnt see it on any of the local stores around here. it seems that nobody really cares about psu`s in israel coz the best i saw was the thermaltake 560w
http://www.thermaltake.com/purepower/W0023.htm

and its around 160$ and that is twice as much as im willing to pay for a psu especialy since its not so good as you guys say.

and can someone tell me whats the difference between these thermaltake coz they both have the same 3.3/5/12 and different max W (420W / 480W) so... i dont get it:

http://www.thermaltake.com/purepower/W0026.htm
http://www.thermaltake.com/purepower/w00089.htm

 

[robig]

ok i was able to find the EG465P-VE on a site somewhere around here but it costs 160$!!!!! they sure wanna make a profit..... so i guess i have no other choice but to go for the thermaltake 460W.... o well...

 

[zoom314]

Originally posted by robig
ok i was able to find the EG465P-VE on a site somewhere around here but it costs 160$!!!!! they sure wanna make a profit..... so i guess i have no other choice but to go for the thermaltake 460W.... o well...

Does $160 include shipping? I found It for $86.99 at Legend Micro and Yes They will do shipping to an International location, But You have to email them with Your details first, Otherwise They would cancel the order. Here's the Link to the EG465P-VE(FC) @ Legend Micro.

 

[robig]

zoom you are great! thank you and thank you all for your help. now all i need to do is get an international credit card... hopfully with the money the army owns me, it shouldnt be a problem. so again thank you guys for helping out!

 

[willhay99]

Took William's advice and invested in a quality power supply (Enermax Noisetaker 600W) after months of system instability problems. What a difference - for a start my sound card (Soundblaster Audigy) produced four times the volume and more importantly the quality of the sound was dramatically improved! The PC is much quieter and runs a lot cooler. My advice to others if you self build is make sure the basics are right even if it means spending more on the power supply and case and less on the graphics card - afterall you use most of the power supplies features all of the time but how often do you use all of a graphics card features.

 

[rodrigo]

i have a "maxpower" psu ,
+12v= 15A
+3.3=20A max combined 3.3v & 5v = 200W
+5v=40A

you think it's ok for my pc?

athlon xp 1700+@2600+
2x256mb ddr333
gf4 ti4800se 128mb
2 hdd
cd-rom
cd-writer
case fan
cold cathode..

thanks

ps. anyway, i'm thinking in gettin a thermaltake butterfly 480w psu , with PFC, is it good?

 

[Wonkanoby]

should be fine,its high combined watts you want with that board and 200 is fine

 

[Arnauld]

Just read your article clarkkent57, and it's awesome. Very nice piece of article. Thanks for sharing your experience. Much appreciated.
Arnauld